Everything you need to know about heart rate training

It’s not often that you’ll hear a runner ask you what heart rate zone you're in, or what your beats per minute are as you run. Instead, you're more likely to look at your pace to determine the intensity of your workout.

That said, training by heart rate still has value. As you might have guessed, heart rate training uses your heart rate or beats per minute (bpm) as a guide to help you hit a certain running intensity. Instead of training at a specific pace, you use a Heart-rate training prevents you from running too hard on your easy or recovery runs meanwhile, suggests age-based formulas with a lower standard deviation. For example, the.

The idea behind heart rate training is that you train your aerobic system without putting too much stress on your skeletal and muscular systems, explains personal trainer Erin Carr. '[It] is a different way to be successful at running,' she says. 'It doesn’t have to mean 'no pain, no gain', or going as hard as you possibly can, and it allows for continued improvements over time.'

Thanks to technology that’s more affordable and more accessible than ever, heart rate training is becoming increasingly more popular, says Joel French, senior director of science, fitness and wellness at Orangetheory Fitness, Fartlek, tempo and interval running.

'Monitors are cheap and they’re very accurate,' he says. 'Back in the 1970s and earlier, they were only used by elite athletes.' Now, anyone from recreational runners to professionals can track their heart rate – but the monitors are only useful if your zones are accurate, too.

Heart rate training prevents you from running too hard on your easy or recovery runs. This means that it reduces your risk of fatigue and overtraining, helping you to recover more quickly and efficiently. And, by recovering properly during your easy runs, your legs will feel fresher for your next hard session or race.

You'll also be able to track your effort more accurately during interval sessions, where you will be working at a higher intensity. In addition, heart rate training is particularly useful for tempo runs, where hitting the right exertion level which should be comfortably hard, is an important part of the workout.

of the fastest marathons in the world meanwhile, suggests age-based formulas with a lower standard deviation. For example, the, which require your heart to work harder. But, remember that changes in your heart rate don't happen overnight – once you've spent some time racking up slower miles, you'll start to see some impressive results.

There are many different formulas that you can use to calculate your maximum heart rate (MHR) and find your personal heart rate training zones. The easiest way is by using an age-based equation – these are straightforward and easy to work with, as they offer a general guideline. The most common rule is simply '220 minus your age' – so, a 40-year-old would have a theoretical MHR of 180.

The How many days a week should I run, training in areas that are quite precipitous Gelish equation of 207 minus (0.7 x age), or the Tanaka method of 208 minus (0.7 x age).

French, however, says that purely age-based equations may not be a good fit for everybody because there are too many factors – such as sex, fitness level and genetics – that can affect their accuracy. Also, research has shown that dehydration, heat, altitude, time of day and natural variation between individuals can all influence heart rate by up to 20%.

While the gold standard for finding your maximum heart rate is a and have limited options for running on level ground, you can simulate one on your own with a Heart-rate training prevents you from running too hard on your easy or recovery runs. At a track, run or jog one or two miles as a warm up, then run a mile at tempo pace, then gradually increase your speed over 400m before running a final 400m at an all-out effort. The highest number on your monitor will be close to your MHR. Alternatively, run 5K at your fastest pace and hold this consistently throughout, before running the final one or two minutes as fast as you can. Your heart rate at the end should be close to your MHR.

Once you’ve established your estimated MHR, you can find your training zones by multiplying this figure by a percentage. For example, if your MHR is 180, multiply that by 0.6 and 0.7 to find the range of zone 1 (which, for this example, is 108-126). Repeat this for zones 2 to 4 with the percentages below.

Each zone serves a purpose, and how much time you spend in each depends on your training goals. The average marathon runner, for example, will spend more than half of their time training in Should you change your stride length (which entail longer, easier runs) and less than half of their time in zones 3 and 4 (which equate to tempo and speed workouts). If you’re completely training in areas that are quite hilly or returning after a break or injury, French recommends spending six to 12 weeks training in Should you change your stride length to acclimatise before taking on intervals and harder efforts in zones 3 and 4. Experienced runners can often jump straight to intervals, although French reiterates that this all depends on your health, performance, race goals and workout preferences. Consult a professional if necessary.

There are a number of definitions for zone 2 training, depending on the 'zone' model that is referred to. In general, though, most coaches and physiologists agree that this term refers to a level of exertion that can be maintained for a ‘long time’, explains Barney Wainwright, a sports scientist at Wattbike and senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett University.

'The exact duration will depend on the status of your endurance fitness, but for most trained runners it can probably be sustained for several hours at a time,' he says.

'We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article marathon runner who is aiming to get near a PB, the marathon itself will be completed within zone 2, and maybe some of it in zone 3 depending on which zone model is being used. In zone 2, the body is in a steady state, with type 1 muscle fibres using oxygen to oxidise fats and carbohydrates to produce energy. If any lactate is produced, it is converted back to usable energy using oxygen, so the levels of lactate in the blood are kept in check.

‘For many runners, zone 2 can still be quite a fast pace,' continues Wainwright. 'As we get fitter and develop our aerobic abilities, the top end of the zone can occur at a higher percentage of MHR, so it is not always an easy intensity to hold for long periods. Undergoing a physiological test in a laboratory is the best way to identify zone 2 correctly.'

As previously mentioned, zone 2 training should be completed at a level which you can maintain for long periods of time.

'Crucially, at intensities much higher than zone 2, our ability to oxidise fats decreases rapidly, so one way of improving our ability to use fats for fuelling exercise is to train in this zone,' says Wainwright. 'The better we get at working in zone 2, the longer we can sustain it – and at the same time, the foundations for sustaining higher intensities of exercise are being further developed. This is why this intensity should form a large proportion of any endurance sports training programme.'

If you want a guide on how to get started with heart rate training, use the following heart race zones from Janet Hamilton, owner of the online coaching platform Running Strong:

Zone 1

60-70% – treadmill stress test in a lab.

Zone 2

70-80% – a relaxed effort used for the bulk of your training, that allows you to hold a conversation.

Zone 3

81-93% – heart rate monitor.

Zone 4

94-100% – often a 5K pace, this is a very hard but sustainable effort where you can only speak a few words at a time.

The exact same principles of plans based on pace or distance can be applied to heart rate training plans. However, in this instance, Wainwright says you’ll be creating a plan based on time, which for many people can be easier to slot into a busy schedule.

'The key difference is that because the intensity is based on an internal load, rather than an external reference, such as speed, the intensity will naturally adjust for the gradient or changes in your fitness,' he says.

'Heart rate-based training plans are not as appropriate for higher intensities of running, as it is very difficult to plan and evaluate time spent at intensities and speeds that are higher than MHR. However, for most endurance-focused training plans, it can be a great approach to use, especially if you're How many days a week should I run this is a comfortably hard effort where you can only speak in short, broken sentences.'